Neighbors of a proposed Coors Field parking garage say they’re not against baseball, just against the thinking behind the location of the four-story, block-long structure.
“It just doesn’t seem to be the highest and best use of the property,” said Bag Factory Lofts Owners Association president Jo-Ann Herrick.
Herrick says she is marshaling forces from nearby condo and parking complexes to block the construction of the parking garage near 27th and Blake streets for a host of reasons, including that it will only be used for 81 days of the year and it is not close to a commuter hub.
“Wouldn’t it be better to have a parking garage closer to a commuter line station or the stadium?” said Herrick. “I just question the logic and rationale of this decision.”
She wants to lobby the city of Denver to stop the permitting of the parking garage, which even Rockies and stadium officials agree is not the most ideal option toward solving parking woes at Coors Field.
But as surface parking gets more expensive and scarce by the day in lower downtown, a parking garage is the best available tool, say officials.
“What prices have been over the past three of four years, costs are just prohibitive to find surface parking,” said Matt Sugar, spokesman for the Denver Metropolitan Major League Baseball Stadium District.
The parking garage will loom just to the west of the Bag Factory and dominate the B lot and part of the A lot of the 1.5 mile stretch of parking lots north of Coors Field.
The cost of the $13.7 million garage is covered by $15 million the Regional Transportation District paid to compensate for the loss of 628 spaces to the construction of the Eagle P3 Commuter Rail line. The money must be spent on replacement parking.
Other sites were considered, Sugar said, but the 27th and Blake area was deemed the best because underground utilities were already available.
Also, it’s reasonable walking distance to the stadium, and the site slopes slightly downward, making it less visible, Sugar said.
A parking structure is a “use by right” in the area, meaning that the district didn’t have to apply for a city zoning variance or notify neighborhood groups about the construction plans, he said.
Still, neighbors were notified as early as May, Sugar said.
“We went above and beyond what was required of us. The neighbors wouldn’t have heard about this until much later,” he said.
Herrick and others claim, however, that getting information about the district’s proposal has been difficult. They also say the garage is being built without any input from planners other than those hired by the stadium district.
Neighbor Chris Sullivan said the parking garage will only attract more traffic when the district should be encouraging people to take mass transit and walking to the stadium.
“Meanwhile, you’ve got something that will sit here, other than 81 days a year, and used for nothing,” Sullivan said. “I just don’t get it.”
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907, mwhaley@denverpost.com or
